Climatological Report (Annual)
Issued by NWS Northern Indiana
Issued by NWS Northern Indiana
627
CXUS53 KIWX 011932 CCA
CLAFWA
CLIMATE REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
232 PM EST THU JAN 01 2026
...................................
...THE FORT WAYNE CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR THE YEAR OF 2025...
CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1991 TO 2020
CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1897 TO 2025
WEATHER OBSERVED NORMAL DEPART LAST YEAR`S
VALUE DATE(S) VALUE FROM VALUE
NORMAL
..............................................................
TEMPERATURE (F)
RECORD
HIGH 106 06/28/2012
06/25/1988
07/14/1936
LOW -24 01/12/1918
HIGHEST 95 07/24 MM MM 97
LOWEST -6 01/22 MM MM -6
AVG. MAXIMUM 64.1 60.3 3.8 64.3
AVG. MINIMUM 41.0 41.4 -0.4 44.5
MEAN 52.5 50.9 1.6
DAYS MAX >= 90 25 15.7 9.3 18
DAYS MAX <= 32 49 39.7 9.3 21
DAYS MIN <= 32 130 123.6 6.4 94
DAYS MIN <= 0 5 6.2 -1.2 3
PRECIPITATION (INCHES)
RECORD
MAXIMUM 54.58 1990
MINIMUM 24.40 1962
TOTALS 24.31R 39.48 -15.17 35.43
DAILY AVG. 0.07 0.11 -0.04 0.10
DAYS >= .01 119 135.4 -16.4 130
DAYS >= .10 58 77.3 -19.3 80
DAYS >= .50 16 25.2 -9.2 19
DAYS >= 1.00 1 8.9 -7.9 5
SNOWFALL (INCHES)
RECORDS
TOTAL 68.6 2014
TOTALS 27.5 33.6 -6.1 13.7
SINCE 7/1 15.7 9.6 6.1 3.0
SNOWDEPTH AVG. 0 -1
DAYS >= TRACE 59 34.0 25.0 49
DAYS >= 1.0 9 10.7 -1.7 6
GREATEST
SNOW DEPTH 7 12/02 3
DEGREE DAYS
HEATING TOTAL 5859 5968 -109 4797
SINCE 7/1 2263 2257 6 1828
COOLING TOTAL 1002 849 153 1023
SINCE 1/1 1002 849 153 1023
..............................................................
WIND (MPH)
AVERAGE WIND SPEED 9.3
HIGHEST WIND SPEED/DIRECTION 51/220 DATE 05/16
HIGHEST GUST SPEED/DIRECTION 66/260 DATE 05/16
SKY COVER
POSSIBLE SUNSHINE (PERCENT) MM
AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.62
NUMBER OF DAYS FAIR 73
NUMBER OF DAYS PC 149
NUMBER OF DAYS CLOUDY 141
AVERAGE RH (PERCENT) 70
WEATHER CONDITIONS. NUMBER OF DAYS WITH
THUNDERSTORM 36 MIXED PRECIP 0
HEAVY RAIN 19 RAIN 30
LIGHT RAIN 120 FREEZING RAIN 1
LT FREEZING RAIN 11 HAIL 2
HEAVY SNOW 2 SNOW 7
LIGHT SNOW 58 SLEET 1
FOG 159 FOG W/VIS <= 1/4 MILE 18
HAZE 23
- INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS.
R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED.
MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING.
T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT.
&&
...DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD...
IT`S OFFICAL! AFTER BEING ON PACE TO BE THE DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD
FOR THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS, 2025 RANKS AS THE DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD
IN FORT WAYNE WITH AN ANNUAL PRECIPITATION TOTAL OF 24.31". THE
PREVIOUS DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD WAS 1962 WITH 24.40". WHAT MAKES THIS
YEAR EVEN MORE NOTABLE IS THAT SOUTH BEND IS 90 MILES FROM FORT
WAYNE AND HAD OVER 10" MORE OF PRECIPITATION! WIDESPREAD, SOAKING
RAINFALL WAS ABSENT THROUGHOUT THE YEAR IN FORT WAYNE. TO PUT INTO
PERSPECTIVE JUST HOW DRY IT WAS IN FORT WAYNE, 11 OUT OF 12 MONTHS
IN 2025 SAW BELOW NORMAL PRECIPITATION! THIS INCLUDES JANUARY,
AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, AND OCTOBER WHICH ALL HAD LESS THAN 50% OF
NORMAL. APRIL WAS THE ONLY MONTH WITH ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION,
LIKELY BECAUSE 1.51" FELL ON APRIL 2ND. NOT ONLY WAS THIS THE
WETTEST DAY OF THE YEAR BUT IT WAS ALSO THE ONLY DAY THIS YEAR WITH
A PRECIPITATION TOTAL OF OVER 1 INCH. THE YEAR WAS EXCEPTIONALLY
DRY, ESPECIALLY IN THE FALL. SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER BOTH HAD LESS
THAN AN INCH OF PRECIPITATION FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH. THERE WERE
NUMEROUS DRY STRETCHES THIS FALL WHERE FORT WAYNE WENT 1-2 WEEKS
WITHOUT ANY RAIN. A DRY END TO SUMMER AND A TOP 5 DRIEST FALL HELPED
RAPIDLY EXACERBATE DROUGHT CONDITIONS IN ALLEN COUNTY, IN. FORT
WAYNE SPENT MUCH OF THE FALL IN THE WORST DROUGHT SINCE 2012. SEVERE
(D2) AND EXTREME DROUGHT (D3) WERE INTRODUCED AT THE END OF
SEPTEMBER AND BY THE END OF NOVEMBER, 95% OF THE COUNTY WAS IN
EITHER SEVERE OR EXTREME DROUGHT. TO DATE, DROUGHT IS STILL ONGOING
IN FORT WAYNE AND FOR MUCH OF THE US 24 CORRIDOR. IMPACTS TO THE
SPRING 2026 GROWING SEASON ARE POSSIBLE. THE AVERAGE ANNUAL
PRECIPITATION AT FORT WAYNE IS 39.48", WHICH MEANS 2025 HAD A
DEFICIT OF 15.17". THE ONLY OTHER YEAR WITH A DEFICIT GREATER THAN
15" WAS 1962. PRECIPITATION RECORDS DATE BACK TO 1897 IN FORT WAYNE.
ALTHOUGH PRECIPITATION WAS LACKING, SURPRISINGLY, SNOWFALL WAS NOT!
A MAJOR WINTER STORM AFTER THANKSGIVING FOLLOWED BY SEVERAL CLIPPERS
IN DECEMBER HELPED BOOST THE ANNUAL SNOWFALL TO JUST SLIGHTLY BELOW
NORMAL. THE HIGHEST SINGLE DAY SNOW TOTAL WAS WHEN 5.6" FELL ON
NOVEMBER 29TH; THIS DAY WAS ALSO THE FIRST 3"+ SNOWFALL IN FORT
WAYNE SINCE JANUARY 2023. OVERALL, 2025 HAD 27.5" OF SNOW, WHICH IS
6.1 " BELOW NORMAL. THIS WAS THE SNOWIEST YEAR SINCE 2022 WHEN 27.6"
FELL AND RANKS AS THE 53RD LEAST SNOWY ON RECORD.
AFTER SETTING THE WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD IN 2024, TEMPERATURES WERE
MORE SUBDUED BUT STILL WARMER THAN NORMAL IN 2025. FOR THE SECOND
YEAR IN A ROW, JUNE FEATURED AN EARLY SEASON, MULTI-DAY HEATWAVE.
HEAT ALSO LINGERED LONGER INTO THE FALL AS AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER BOTH
HAD SEVERAL STRETCHES OF TEMPERATURES IN THE 80S AND 90S. THERE WERE
25 DAYS THIS SUMMER WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE AT OR ABOVE 90 DEGREES.
THE WARMEST DAY THIS YEAR WAS JULY 24TH WHEN A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF
95 WAS REACHED. THE HEAT WASN`T TERRIBLY ABOVE NORMAL THIS YEAR BUT
THE HUMIDITY WAS RATHER EXTREME. WITH THE 2ND MOST HUMID JULY ON
RECORD, IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE THAT DEWPOINTS WERE WELL INTO
THE 60S AND 70S FOR MUCH OF THE SUMMER. FORT WAYNE SPENT 589 NON-
CONSECUTIVE HOURS (EQUIVALENT TO 24.5 DAYS) WITH A DEWPOINT AT OR
ABOVE 70 DEGREES THIS YEAR! THIS IS THE MOST HOURS IN A YEAR SINCE
2018 AND THE 5TH MOST HOURS SINCE HOURLY DEWPOINT RECORDS BEGAN IN
1948! CONVERSELY, THERE WERE ALSO A FEW COLD SNAPS THIS YEAR,
PARTICULARLY AT THE END OF JANUARY AND BEGINNING OF DECEMBER. THE
COLDEST TEMPERATURE THIS YEAR WAS WHEN A LOW OF -6 DEGREES OCCURRED
ON JANUARY 21ST. THE AVERAGE HIGH TEMPERATURE THIS YEAR WAS 64.1
DEGREES AND THE AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE WAS 41.0 DEGREES. OVERALL,
2025 HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 52.5 DEGREES, WHICH IS 1.6
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 33RD WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD.
2025 NOTABLE WEATHER EVENTS
- FIRST COLDER THAN NORMAL WINTER (DEC 24 - FEB 25) IN A DECADE
- EARLY SPRING SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS ON MARCH 30 AND APRIL 2
- HIGH WINDS BROUGHT BLOWING DUST TO FORT WAYNE ON MAY 16TH
- EARLY SUMMER HEATWAVE IN MID-JUNE RESULTED IN SEVERAL DAYS OF HIGH
HEAT AND HUMIDITY
- 2ND MOST HUMID JULY ON RECORD
- NOTABLE LACK OF SEVERE WEATHER DURING THE PEAK SEASON (SPRING AND
SUMMER)
- 4TH DRIEST YET 4TH SNOWIEST FALL ON RECORD
- REOCCURING DROUGHT THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, ESPECIALLY IN THE FALL
WHEN D3 EXTREME DROUGHT WAS INTRODUCED FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2012
- POST-THANKSGIVING WINTER STORM BROUGHT THE HIGHEST SINGLE DAY SNOW
TOTAL TO FORT WAYNE IN 3 YEARS!
- SEVERAL RECORD COLD LOWS IN EARLY DECEMBER
- LATE DECEMBER SEVERE RISK ON DECEMBER 28TH FOLLOWED BY A 50
DEGREE DROP IN TEMPERATURES IN 18 HOURS
- DRIEST YEAR ON RECORD IN FORT WAYNE
A MONTH BY MONTH SUMMARY IS BELOW:
...JANUARY...
A SERIES OF ARCTIC COLD FRONTS PROMOTED WELL BELOW-NORMAL
TEMPERATURES AT TIMES THIS MONTH. THERE WERE THREE DISTINCT PERIODS
OF BELOW-NORMAL TEMPERATURES THIS MONTH, WITH THE COLDEST OCCURRING
FROM THE 19TH THROUGH 24TH WHEN DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURES WERE AS
MUCH AS 22 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THROUGH JANUARY 15TH, THE AVERAGE
DAILY TEMPERATURE OF 21.1 DEGREES RANKED AS THE COLDEST START TO
JANUARY SINCE 18.9 DEGREES IN 2018. THE MORNING LOW OF -6 ON THE
MORNING OF THE 22ND WAS THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH, AND
MATCHES THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE OBSERVED IN JANUARY 2024. THERE WERE
FOUR DAYS THIS MONTH WITH A TEMPERATURE BELOW ZERO, WHICH MATCHES
THAT OF JANUARY 2022. IN CONTRAST, A RIDGE DEVELOPED OVER THE
EASTERN US IN THE FINAL DAYS OF JANUARY RESULTING IN A HIGH
TEMPERATURE OF 46 ON THE 30TH. THIS IS THE WARMEST HIGH TEMPERATURE
FOR JANUARY SINCE 62 DEGREES IN JANUARY 2023. ALL TOLD, THE MONTH`S
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 22.2 DEGREES WHICH IS 3.3 DEGREES BELOW
NORMAL AND TIES AS THE 38TH COLDEST ON RECORD (1930).
LIGHT SNOW WAS COMMON AMID THESE ARCTIC BLASTS. THE GREATEST SINGLE-
DAY TOTAL WAS 2.2 INCHES ON THE 10TH. THE MONTH`S TOTAL OF 8.1
INCHES IS 2.7 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS WITHIN THE MIDDLE-THIRD
OF THE 128-YEAR RECORD.
A SLOW-MOVING AREA OF LOW PRESSURE BROUGHT SOAKING RAIN TO PARTS OF
ILLINOIS AND FAR NORTHERN INDIANA TO END THE MONTH. PRECIPITATION
(RAIN AND MELTED SNOW) TOTALED 1.19 INCHES FOR THE MONTH. THIS WAS
1.35 INCHES BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 27TH LEAST AMOUNT OF
PRECIPITATION ON RECORD.
NO RECORDS WERE SET THIS MONTH.
...FEBRUARY...
THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY FEATURED VERY COLD THAT WAS BOOKENDED BY
RELATIVELY WARM AIR. THE WARMEST DAY OF THIS MONTH WAS WHEN A HIGH
TEMPERATURE OF 57 WAS REACHED, WHICH OCCURRED ON FEBRUARY 3RD,
FEBRUARY 25TH, AND FEBRUARY 28TH. THE COLDEST DAY OF THIS MONTH WAS
FEBRUARY 18TH WHEN A LOW TEMPERATURE OF 3 DEGREES WAS REACHED. THIS
DAY HAD AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURE OF 19.5 DEGREES BELOW
AVERAGE. THE STRETCH OF DAYS FROM FEBRUARY 4TH TO FEBRUARY 22ND,
WHICH HAD HIGH TEMPERATURES BELOW 40 DEGREES, WAS THE SECOND LONGEST
SUCH STRETCH ON RECORD IN FEBRUARY. THIS PROLONGED STRETCH OF COLD
AIR ALLOWED WINTER STORMS TO BRING DOSES OF WINTRY MIX TO THE AREA.
THERE WAS A RUN OF 9 CONSECUTIVE DAYS WHERE SNOW WAS OBSERVED FROM
FEBRUARY 12TH TO FEBRUARY 20TH. FREEZING RAIN AND ICING CONCERNS
WERE PLENTIFUL DURING THIS TIME AS WELL. DESPITE THIS 9 DAY STRETCH
WITH MEASURABLE SNOW, FORT WAYNE ONLY HAD ONE DAY WHERE THE TOTAL
SNOW ACCUMULATIONS SURPASSED 1 INCH (ON FEBRUARY 16TH) AND SNOW
DEPTH NEVER SURPASSED 1 INCH DURING THIS TIMEFRAME EITHER. OVERALL
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 27.9 DEGREES, WHICH IS 0.8
DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. FEBRUARY 2025 RANKS AS THE 67TH COLDEST ON
RECORD.
DESPITE BOUTS OF WINTRY WEATHER THIS MONTH, FORT WAYNE ONLY HAD
ABOUT HALF OF THEIR AVERAGE SNOWFALL IN FEBRUARY. FORT WAYNE
RECORDED 3.4 INCHES OF SNOW, WHICH IS 4.4 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. FOR
SNOWFALL, FEBRUARY 2025 RANKS AS THE 36TH LEAST SNOWY ON RECORD.
TOTAL PRECIPITATION FINISHED BELOW NORMAL AS WELL WITH ONLY 1.14
INCHES MEASURED, WHICH IS 0.92 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. FOR TOTAL
PRECIPITATION, FORT WAYNE HAD THE 33RD DRIEST FEBRUARY ON RECORD.
NO RECORDS WERE SET FOR THIS MONTH.
...MARCH...
MARCH 2025 WAS VERY MILD WITH A NOTABLE LACK OF PRECIPITATION,
ESPECIALLY SNOWFALL. THE MONTH WAS NOTICEABLY WARMER THAN NORMAL,
WITH SEVERAL DAYS WITH HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S TO MID 70S DURING THE
MIDDLE AND END OF THE MONTH. MANY THESE WARMER DAYS ALSO BROUGHT
ABOUT PERIODS OF ACTIVE WEATHER. THE MIDDLE TO END OF THE MONTH WAS
ESPECIALLY ACTIVE, WITH SEVERAL AREAS OF LOW PRESSURE MOVING THROUGH
THE MIDWEST AND GREAT LAKES REGIONS. THESE AREAS OF LOW PRESSURE
BROUGHT PERIODS OF STORMS TO THE AREA, WITH SEVERE WEATHER OCCURRING
ON MARCH 19TH AND MARCH 30TH. STRAIGHTLINE WIND DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED
WITH BOTH SEVERE WEATHER EVENT AND A FEW ISOLATED TORNADOES OCCURRED
TOO.
MILD TEMPERATURES LED TO MARCH 2025 RANKING AS THE 11TH WARMEST ON
RECORD (RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897). THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 44.3
DEGREES, WHICH IS 5.7 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL AVERAGE TEMPERATURES
OF 38.6 DEGREES. THE WARMEST DAY OF THE MONTH WAS MARCH 14TH, WHEN
THE HIGH TEMPERATURE REACHED 78 DEGREES.
DESPITE THE ACTIVE WEATHER TOWARDS THE LATTER HALF OF THE MONTH,
PRECIPITATION WAS HARD TO COME BY IN FORT WAYNE. WHILE THERE WERE A
FEW DAYS THIS MONTH OF PRECIP TOTALS BETWEEN 0.25-0.50", THE HIGHEST
DAILY TOTAL THIS MONTH WAS 0.86" ON MARCH 4TH. THIS IS THE 10TH
MONTH IN A ROW WITHOUT A DAILY TOTAL GREATER THAN 1"; THE LAST TIME
1" OR MORE OF PRECIPITATION FELL IN ONE DAY IN FORT WAYNE WAS ON MAY
7TH, 2024. OVERALL, MARCH 2025 HAD 2.30" OF PRECIPITATION, WHICH IS
0.51" BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 42ND DRIEST MARCH ON RECORD.
WITH SUCH MILD TEMPERATURES THIS MONTH, IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT
SNOWFALL WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LACKING. ONLY 0.3" FELL THE ENTIRE MONTH,
WHICH WAS 4.3" BELOW NORMAL. MARCH 2025 TIES FOR THE 14TH LEAST
SNOWY MARCH ON RECORD. WHILE THERE CAN BE SNOWSTORMS IN MARCH, THEY
HAVE BEEN HARD TO COME BY IN THE PAST DECADE. WITH THE LARGE
TEMPERATURE SWINGS THAT TYPICALLY OCCUR IN THE TRANSITION FROM
WINTER TO SPRING, IT IS ALSO NOT UNUSUAL TO HAVE A LACK OF SNOW IN
MARCH. THE LAST TIME MARCH SNOWFALL WAS ABOVE NORMAL IN FORT WAYNE
WAS IN 2015; IN THE PAST 25 YEARS, ONLY 7 YEARS HAVE HAS MARCH
SNOWFALL ABOVE AVERAGE.
...APRIL...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ON APRIL 2ND SPAWNED EIGHT TORNADOES ACROSS
INDIANA, SOUTHERN MICHIGAN AND NORTHWEST OHIO. THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH WERE COMMON, DOWNING TREES AND POWERLINES
AS WELL. THIS WAS ALSO WHEN 1.51 INCHES OF RAIN WAS RECORDED AT FORT
WAYNE ; A NEW RECORD SURPASSING THE PREVIOUS TOTAL OF 0.83 INCHES IN
1983. A PROGRESSIVE WEATHER PATTERN BROUGHT FREQUENT RAIN (AND EVEN
SNOW) CHANCES EARLY ON IN APRIL ALONG WITH LARGE TEMPERATURE SWINGS
AS IS TYPICAL FOR SPRING IN THE MIDWEST. TEMPERATURES TENDED TO BE
BELOW NORMAL IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH FOLLOWED BY A NOTABLE
WARM UP IN THE FINAL TEN DAYS. THREE DAYS THIS MONTH RECORDED A
TEMPERATURE OF 80 OR WARMER; A COMMON OCCURRENCE OVER THE PAST
SEVERAL YEARS.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 51.4 DEGREES WHICH IS 1.2
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 28TH WARMEST ON RECORD (TIED
WITH 1987, 1981, 1900). PRECIPITATION TOTALED 3.90 INCHES WHICH IS
ONLY SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL BY 0.16 INCHES AND RANKS AS THE 41ST
WETTEST ON RECORD. THIS IS NOTABLY LESS THAN APRIL 2024 WHEN 7.39
INCHES WAS RECORDED. A TRACE OF SNOW WAS RECORDED WHICH IS 0.8
INCHES BELOW NORMAL.
...MAY...
THE MOST NOTABLE FEATURE THIS MONTH WAS THE WIDESPREAD STRONG 40 TO
70 MPH WINDS THAT MOVED THROUGH ON THE 16TH. A 71 MPH WIND GUST
REPORT WAS RECORDED NORTH OF NEW HAVEN AND A 66 MPH GUST WAS
RECORDED AT THE FORT WAYNE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. ADDITIONALLY, A
PLUME OF DUST FROM CROP FIELDS WAS KICKED UP AND IT REDUCED
VISIBILITY IN AREAS AS IT WENT NORTHWARD. THIS WAS MOST NOTABLE IN
AREAS WEST OF US-31. 70 DEGREE DEW POINTS ON THE 15TH WERE REPLACED
BY A DRIER AREA OF 40 AND 50 DEGREE DEW POINTS ON THE 16TH AND THIS
DRIER AIRMASS HELPED FACTOR INTO THE STRONG WIND GUSTS OBSERVED AS A
PLAINS-LIKE INVERTED-V PROFILE SETUP OCCURRED. ONLY A TRACE AND A
TENTH OF RAINFALL WAS OBSERVED ON THE 15TH AND 16TH RESPECTIVELY.
AS FOR TEMPERATURE, THIS MONTH FINISHED COOLER THAN NORMAL.
TEMPERATURES THROUGHOUT THE FIRST HALF OF THE MONTH AVERAGED NORMAL
TO ABOVE NORMAL, WHEREAS THE LATTER HALF OF THE MONTH (THE 18TH
THROUGH 31ST) WAS MUCH COOLER AND THIS REALLY HELPED TO AVERAGE
THINGS OUT. OVERALL, THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 59.3 DEGREES, WHICH
IS 2.0 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 52ND COOLEST MAY ON
RECORD. RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897.
PRECIPITATION-WISE, THIS MONTH FINISHED BELOW NORMAL. THREE DAYS
THIS MONTH HAD OVER A HALF INCH OF RAIN: MAY 4TH, MAY 5TH, AND MAY
20TH. MAY 4TH WAS THE WETTEST DAY THIS MONTH WITH 0.99" OF RAIN. IN
TOTAL, 3.01" OF PRECIPITATION FELL THIS MONTH, WHICH IS 1.57" BELOW
NORMAL. THIS TIES FOR THE 45TH DRIEST MAY ON RECORD.
...JUNE...
WHILE JUNE 1 WAS NOTABLY COOL (DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 10
DEGREES BELOW NORMAL), THE REMINDER OF THE MONTH WAS WARMER THAN
NORMAL. ONLY SEVEN DAYS THIS MONTH SAW AN AVERAGE DAILY TEMPERATURE
BELOW NORMAL. DURING A LATE-MONTH HEAT WAVE, FORT WAYNE TIED A
RECORD WARM MINIMUM TEMPERATURE (JUNE 22, 74 DEGREES TIED WITH 1988)
AND RECORDED A HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 90 OR GREATER FOR SEVEN STRAIGHT
DAYS.
THE LONGEST STRETCH OF 90S ON RECORD IS 22 DAYS ENDING JULY 18, 2012.
JUNE OF LAST YEAR SAW A SEVEN-DAY STRETCH OF 90S END ON JUNE 22ND.
THE TOTAL NUMBER OF 90 DEGREE DAYS THIS MONTH IS EIGHT, WHICH
MATCHES JUNE 2024 AND IS ABOVE THE AVERAGE OF FOUR.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 73.2 DEGREES WHICH IS 2.5
DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES 2018 AS THE 16TH WARMEST JUNE ON
RECORD. WHILE 90-DEGREE DAYS CERTAINLY NUDGED THE MONTH`S AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE ABOVE NORMAL, OVERNIGHT LOWS CARRIED NOTABLE WEIGHT. THE
MONTH`S AVERAGE LOW TEMPERATURE OF 63 DEGREES TIES 1952 AND 1943 AS
THE 8TH WARMEST ON RECORD. NOTE THAT JUNE 2021 RANKS AS THE 7TH
WARMEST AT 63.2 DEGREES.
AMID THE HOT AND STEAMY CONDITIONS, PASSING THUNDERSTORMS BUBBLED UP
AT TIMES AND RAINFALL WAS VERY EFFICIENT. FOR EXAMPLE, AT NEARBY
LIMA, OH, 2.02" OF RAIN WAS RECORDED ON THE 26TH BUT 1.92" OF THIS
TOTAL WAS RECORDED IN ONE HOUR! ALL TOLD, THE MONTH`S PRECIPITATION
TOTALED 4.25 INCHES WHICH IS 0.23 INCHES BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS
THE 51ST WETTEST JUNE ON RECORD. DESPITE BEING BELOW NORMAL, THIS IS
THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF JUNE RAINFALL SINCE 2021 WHICH RECORDED 5.91
INCHES.
...JULY...
LAST YEAR, WE ENJOYED A COOLER THAN NORMAL JULY WITH NO 90 DEGREE
DAYS. THIS YEAR, THE WEATHER WAS MUCH MORE TYPICAL FOR JULY WITH
MULTIPLE UPPER LEVEL RIDGES SETTING UP OVER THE MIDWEST AND GREAT
LAKES REGIONS. HOT AND HUMID WEATHER DOMINATED FOR A MAJORITY OF THE
MONTH, ESPECIALLY AT THE BEGINNING AND END OF THE MONTH. THERE WERE
9 DAYS WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE 90S IN FORT WAYNE. THE HOTTEST
TEMPERATURE THIS MONTH WAS 95 DEGREES ON JULY 24TH. AS FOR THE
HUMIDITY, THERE WAS A NOTICEABLE STRETCH OF VERY HUMID CONDITIONS
FROM JULY 24TH THROUGH 30TH. DURING THIS TIME, THERE WERE 106
CONSECUTIVE HOURS OF DEWPOINTS AT OR GREATER THAN 70 DEGREES! THIS
RUN IS THE LONGEST ON RECORD FOR DEWPOINTS AT OR GREATER THAN 70
DEGREES FOR JULY AND IS THE 5TH LONGEST STRETCH ON RECORD FOR ANY
MONTH OF THE YEAR. DEWPOINT DATA AT KFWA DATES BACK TO 1948.
OVERALL, JULY FINISHED WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 76.5 DEGREES,
WHICH IS 2.7 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THIS TIES 2002 AND 1919 AS
THE 18TH WARMEST JULY ON RECORD AND THE WARMEST SINCE 76.9 IN 2020.
AMID VERY HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS, THUNDERSTORMS WERE WIDELY HIT OR
MISS IN AND AROUND FORT WAYNE THIS MONTH. RAINFALL WAS VERY
EFFICIENT FOR LOCATIONS THAT WERE ABLE TO GET STORMS. FOR INSTANCE,
ON JULY 30TH, HARLAN, IN RECEIVED OVER 4" OF RAIN (ON NE SIDE ALLEN
COUNTY, IN) WHILE THE FORT WAYNE AIRPORT ONLY GOT 0.08" (SW SIDE OF
ALLEN COUNTY, IN). THERE WERE ONLY 2 DAYS THIS MONTH WHERE DAILY
RAINFALL TOTALS WERE OVER A HALF INCH: JULY 25TH AND JULY 31ST. JULY
2025 HAD 2.15 INCHES OF RAIN THIS MONTH, WHICH IS 1.90 INCHES BELOW
NORMAL AND TIES (1995, 1932) AS THE 25TH DRIEST MONTH ON RECORD.
THIS WAS COMPARABLE TO 2.14 INCHES RECORDED IN JULY OF LAST YEAR.
OTHERWISE, THIS IS THE DRIEST JULY SINCE 1.12 INCHES IN 2016.
NO NEW RECORDS WERE SET THIS MONTH.
...AUGUST...
THE BEGINNING OF AUGUST BEGAN WITH A FEW DAYS OF COOLER THAN NORMAL
TEMPERATURES, WHICH WAS FOLLOWED BY A LONGER RELATIVELY WARM PERIOD
THROUGH THE MIDDLE PART OF THE MONTH. THERE WERE 6 DAYS IN THE 90S
THIS MONTH WITH THE WARMEST TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH OCCURRING ON
AUGUST 12TH WITH A HIGH OF 91 DEGREES. A UNSEASONABLY STRONG COLD
FRONT SWEPT THROUGH ON AUGUST 24TH/25TH, REPLACING THE HOT AND HUMID
CONDITIONS WITH MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES FOR THE LAST THIRD OF THE
MONTH. THE LAST 9 DAYS OF AUGUST FEATURED HIGHS IN THE 70S AND LOWS
IN THE 40S. DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE DEPARTURES WERE GENERALLY
SMALL EACH DAY, BUT DEPARTURES ON THE 26TH AND 27TH WERE OVER 10
DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. AFTER THE 2ND MOST HUMID JULY ON RECORD,
AUGUST WAS MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE IN TERMS OF HUMIDITY AND THE
OVERNIGHT LOWS. THERE WERE 5 NIGHTS IN AUGUST WITH A LOW OF 50 OR
LESS; THE COLDEST LOW TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH OF 42 DEGREES
OCCURRED ON AUGUST 27TH. THIS LOW TEMPERATURE ACTUALLY SET A NEW
DAILY RECORD, BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 45 SET ON AUGUST 27,
1910. ALL IN ALL, AUGUST FINISHED WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF
70.7 DEGREES IN FORT WAYNE, WHICH IS 0.9 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL AND
TIES FOR THE 38TH COOLEST AUGUST ON RECORD.
MUCH LIKE JULY, PRECIPITATION WAS VERY HIT OR MISS. MUCH OF THE
MONTH`S RAINFALL TOTAL CAME FROM POP-UP SHOWERS AND STORMS AS THE
AFOREMENTIONED STRONG COLD FRONT TOWARDS THE END OF THE MONTH DID
NOT PRODUCE ANY SUBSTANTIAL RAIN. IN FACT, UP UNTIL AUGUST 28TH,
FORT WAYNE WAS IN THE RUNNING FOR THE 2ND DRIEST AUGUST ON RECORD. A
TOTAL 0.73" OF RAIN FELL ON AUGUST 28TH, WHICH ACCOUNTS FOR OVER
HALF OF THE RAINFALL FOR THE ENTIRE MONTH AND BOOSTED THE MONTHLY
TOTAL OVER AN INCH. AUGUST TOTALED 1.16" OF RAIN FOR THE MONTH,
WHICH IS 2.64" BELOW NORMAL AND THE 8TH DRIEST ON RECORD. THIS WAS
THE DRIEST AUGUST IN FORT WAYNE SINCE 1984.
...SEPTEMBER...
A COLD FRONT AND SUBSEQUENT HIGH PRESSURE IN LATE AUGUST BROUGHT A
STRETCH OF BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES THAT SPILLED INTO SEPTEMBER. A
REINFORCING DOSE OF COLD AIR ARRIVED FOR SEPTEMBER 4TH, WHEN THE
OBSERVED DAILY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 58 WAS 10 DEGREES BELOW
NORMAL. THE FIRST 10 DAYS OF THE MONTH WAS THE 3RD COLDEST ON RECORD
WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 60.8 DEGREES. TWO RECORD LOWS WERE
BROKEN: 39 DEGREES ON THE 7TH (PREVIOUS RECORD 41 SET IN 1962) AND
36 DEGREES ON THE 8TH (PREVIOUS RECORD 39 SET IN 1986). BY MID-
MONTH, STRONG UPPER-LEVEL RIDGING WAS PROMINENT WHICH BROUGHT
ANOMALOUS HEAT AND VERY LITTLE RAINFALL. IN FACT, THE FINAL 20 DAYS
OF THE MONTH RANKED AS THE 4TH WARMEST ON RECORD WITH AN AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE OF 69.5 DEGREES. RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES WERE SET ON THE
7TH AND THE 8TH WHEREAS A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS SET ON THE
28TH.
THE UNSEASONABLE WARMTH PAIRED WITH DRY CONDITIONS RESULTED IN A
RAPID DEGRADATION OF DROUGHT CONDITIONS THROUGH THE MONTH. ON
SEPTEMBER 2, THE US DROUGHT MONITOR INDICATED ABOUT 17% OF THE
NORTHERN INDIANA FORECAST AREA WAS EXPERIENCING MODERATE DROUGHT
(D1) OR WORSE. BY SEPTEMBER 23, THAT NUMBER WAS 71%. CREEK, POND,
AND STREAM LEVELS ARE EXPERIENCING VERY LOW FLOW. ADDITIONAL DROUGHT
IMPACTS INCLUDE TREES DROPPING LEAVES EARLY AND SOYBEANS ARE
STRESSED, FAILING TO FILL THEIR PODS IN SOME INSTANCES.
MEASURABLE RAINFALL OCCURRED ON ONLY SEVEN DAYS THIS MONTH, TOTALING
0.98 INCHES. THIS RANKS AS THE 11TH DRIEST ON RECORD, AND THE DRIEST
SINCE 0.44 INCHES IN 1995.
THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 66.6 DEGREES AND RANKS AS
THE 39TH WARMEST ON RECORD.
...OCTOBER...
FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, FORT WAYNE MEASURED LESS THAN AN INCH
OF RAIN FALL DURING THE MONTH OF OCTOBER. IT IS NOT UNCOMMON FOR
OCTOBER TO BE A DRY MONTH, HOWEVER, THE PAST TWO OCTOBERS HAVE BEEN
A NOTABLE DEPARTURE FROM NORMAL. THE MONTH WAS INCREDIBLY DRY WITH
SEVERAL WEEK-LONG STRETCHES OF NO RAIN. ONLY 6 DAYS OF MEASURABLE
PRECIPTATION WAS RECORDED THIS MONTH (WHICH IS AN IMPROVEMENT FROM
JUST 3 DAYS LAST OCTOBER). MOST OF THE MONTH`S RAINFALL FELL ON
OCTOBER 19TH WHEN WIDESPREAD RAINFALL MOVED THROUGH THE AREA AND
BROUGHT 0.59" TO FORT WAYNE. OVERALL, ONLY 0.77" OF RAIN FELL THIS
MONTH, WHICH IS 2.18" BELOW NORMAL. OCTOBER 2025 RANKS AS THE 11TH
DRIEST OCTOBER ON RECORD. THIS YEAR`S OCTOBER RAINFALL WAS A SLIGHT
IMPROVEMENT FROM LAST YEAR WHEN ONLY 0.43" FELL.
TO FURTHER PUT THE EXTREMELY DRY CONDITIONS INTO PERSPECTIVE, IF THE
YEAR WERE TO END RIGHT NOW, FORT WAYNE WOULD HAVE THE DRIEST YEAR ON
RECORD SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897. YEAR-TO-DATE, FORT WAYNE HAS HAD
20.85" OF PRECIPITATION, WHICH IS 13.20" BELOW THE YEAR-TO-DATE
NORMAL OF 34.05". THIS IS THE LARGEST YEAR-TO-DATE PRECIPITATION
DEFICIT FORT WAYNE HAS EVER HAD GOING INTO NOVEMBER AND WILL BE
DIFFICULT TO OVERCOME HEADING INTO THE WINTER MONTHS, WHICH ARE
USUALLY DRY. FORT WAYNE NEEDS TO MEASURE 3.56" OF PRECIPITATION (OR
MORE) IN THE NEXT TWO MONTHS OR ELSE 2025 WILL GO DOWN AS THE DRIEST
YEAR ON RECORD. 1962 CURRENTLY HOLDS THE RECORD FOR DRIEST YEAR EVER
WITH 24.40".
UNSURPRISINGLY, THE LACK OF RAINFALL HAS EXACERBATED THE ONGOING
DROUGHT. SEVERE TO EXTREME DROUGHT EXPANDED ALONG AND SOUTH OF US 24
CORRIDOR THROUGHOUT OCTOBER. AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER, EXTREME
DROUGHT WAS INTRODUCED INTO ALLEN COUNTY, IN FOR THE FIRST TIME
SINCE THE SUMMER OF 2012. BY THE END OF OCTOBER, EXTREME DROUGHT NOW
COVERS ~40% OF THE COUNTY, ESPECIALLY SOUTHEASTERN ALLEN COUNTY.
DEPENDING ON HOW MUCH WATER CAN BE PUT BACK INTO THE GROUND OVER THE
WINTER (VIA RAIN AND SNOWMELT), THIS YEAR`S FALL DROUGHT COULD
IMPACT NEXT YEAR`S SPRING PLANTING IN NORTHEAST INDIANA AND
NORTHWEST OHIO. THE GROUND IS INCREDIBLY DRY WITH A LACK OF
GROUNDWATER AND EXTREMELY POWDERY TOPSOIL. FALL HARVESTS FOR WHEAT
AND SOYBEANS WIDELY VARIED BETWEEN EARLY AND LATE SEASON CROPS.
NO SNOW WAS RECORDED THIS MONTH. DESIPTE THE AVERAGE FIRST SNOWFALL
OCCURRING ON NOVEMBER 17TH, OCTOBER DOES TYPICALLY AVERAGE 0.1" OF
SNOW IN FORT WAYNE. THE LAST TIME MEASURABLE SNOW FELL IN FORT WAYNE
WAS WHEN 0.7" FELL ON OCTOBER 17TH, 2022. A TRACE OF SNOW FELL IN
2023 AS WELL.
OCTOBER IS OFTEN A TRANSITION MONTH BETWEEN SUMMER AND FALL WITH
LARGE TEMPERATURES SWINGS AND THIS YEAR WAS NO EXCEPTION. OCTOBER
BEGAN WARMER THAN NORMAL WITH A PERISTENT UPPER LEVEL RIDGE PATTERN
ACROSS THE MIDWEST AND GREAT LAKES REGIONS. THE FIRST HALF OF THE
MONTH SAW NEAR RECORD HIGHS IN THE UPPER 80S WITH WARM OVERNIGHT
LOWS. A COOLER DAY OR TWO BRIEFLY OCCURRED BUT HEAT AND HUMIDITY
DOMINATED THE FIRST HALF OF OCTOBER. A SERIES OF SEVERAL COLD FRONTS
MOVED THROUGH DURING THE LATTER HALF OF THE MONTH AS FALL FINALLY
SETTLED IN BY THE END OF THE MONTH. SUMMER HAD ONE LAST HURRAH ON
OCTOBER 18TH WITH A HIGH OF 85 DEGREES BEFORE COOLER AIR WAS ABLE TO
OVERCOME THE PERISTENT HEAT. FOR THE LAST THIRD OF THE MONTH, MUCH
MORE SEASONABLE TEMPERATURES - HIGHS IN THE 50S AND 60S AND LOWS IN
THE 30S AND 40S - HAVE BECOME COMMON. THE FIRST WIDESPREAD FREEZE OF
THE FALL OCCURRED ON OCTOBER 25TH WITH A LOW OF 29 DEGREES,
EFFECTIVELY ENDING THE GROWING SEASON. OVERALL, THE MONTHLY AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE WAS 56.1 DEGREES, WHICH IS 2.9 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.
OCTOBER 2025 RANKS AS THE 28TH WARMEST SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897.
NO NEW TEMPERATURE OR PRECIPITATION RECORDS WERE SET THIS MONTH.
...NOVEMBER...
AS IS COMMON IN THE FALL, NOVEMBER WAS AN ACTIVE TRANSITION MONTH
FROM WARMER THAN NORMAL TO COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES. SEVERAL
SYSTEMS WITH STRONG COLD FRONTS MOVED THROUGH THE AREA, WHICH OFTEN
RESULTED IN SEVERAL DAYS OF WARM AIR OUT AHEAD OF THE INCOMING
SYSTEM FOLLOWED BY COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES BEHIND IT. THE
WARMEST TEMPERATURE THIS MONTH WAS 67 DEGREES, WHICH OCCURRED ON
NOVEMBER 5TH AND 15TH. CONVERSELY, THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE THIS
MONTH WAS 17 DEGREES, WHICH OCCURRED ON NOVEMBER 28TH. 13 DAYS THIS
MONTH WERE COOLER THAN NORMAL. WITH A SIGNIFICANT COLD SNAP AFTER
THANKSGIVING TO FINISH OUT THE MONTH, NOVEMBER FINISHED JUST
SLIGHTLY COOLER THAN NORMAL. (NOTE: THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FROM
11/1 TO 11/28 WAS EXACTLY AT AVERAGE). OVERALL, THE AVERAGE
TEMPERATURE WAS 40.4 DEGREES, WHICH IS 0.7 DEGREES COOLER THAN THE
NORMAL NOVEMBER AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 41.1 DEGREES. THIS WAS
COOLEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD SINCE 2021 WHEN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE
WAS 39.5 DEGREES. IT IS ALSO THE FIRST NOVEMBER SINCE 2021 THAT THE
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE HAS BEEN COOLER THAN NORMAL.
THIS YEAR HAS BEEN EXCEPTIONALLY DRY IN FORT WAYNE, ESPECIALLY
THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER AND FALL, AND THIS MONTH WAS NO EXCEPTION. 11
DAYS THIS MONTH HAD MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION, HOWEVER, ONLY ONE DAY
HAD OVER 0.50". NOVEMBER 29TH HAD THE MOST PRECIPITATION IN A SINGLE
DAY THIS MONTH WITH 0.59" OF PRECIPITATION (MAINLY LIQUID EQUIVALENT
OF MELTED SNOWFALL). FORT WAYNE RECORDED 2.00" OF PRECIPITATION IN
NOVEMBER, WHICH IS 0.96" BELOW NORMAL. THIS RANKS AS THE 41ST DRIEST
NOVEMBER ON RECORD.
FORT WAYNE CONTINUES TO BE ON PACE FOR EITHER THE 1ST OR 2ND DRIEST
YEAR ON RECORD SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897. A SIGNIFICANT
PRECIPITATION DEFICIT IS ONGOING. YEAR-TO-DATE, FORT WAYNE HAS HAD
22.85" OF PRECIPITATION, WHICH IS 14.16" BELOW THE YEAR-TO-DATE
NORMAL OF 37.01". FORT WAYNE NEEDS TO MEASURE AT LEAST 1.55" OF
PRECIPITATION IN DECEMBER OR ELSE 2025 WILL GO DOWN AS THE DRIEST
YEAR ON RECORD. 1962 CURRENTLY HOLDS THE RECORD FOR DRIEST YEAR EVER
IN FORT WAYNE WITH 24.40" AND 1941 IS SECOND DRIEST WITH 25.72".
WHAT IS NOTABLE ABOUT NOVEMBER IS THE IMPRESSIVE AMOUNT OF SNOW THAT
FELL. TWO LARGE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING
THE MOST SNOW TO FORT WAYNE IN NOVEMBER SINCE 1966! AN AREA OF LOW
PRESSURE MOVING THROUGH THE GREAT LAKES BROUGHT LAKE EFFECT SNOW ON
NOVEMBER 9-11TH WITH 3.6" OF SNOW TOTAL. ANOTHER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM
CAME THROUGH AT THE END OF THE MONTH ON NOVEMBER 29-30TH, TOTALLING
A 2-DAY TOTAL OF 5.7" OF SYNOPTIC (SYSTEM) SNOWFALL. BETWEEN THESE
TWO SYSTEMS, THE TOTAL SNOWFALL THIS MONTH WAS 9.3", WHICH RANKS AS
THE 3RD SNOWIEST NOVEMBER ON RECORD AND THE SNOWIEST NOVEMBER SINCE
1966 WHEN 12.0" FELL. SNOWFALL THIS MONTH WAS 7.4" ABOVE NORMAL!
SNOW HAS NOT BEEN ABOVE NORMAL IN FORT WAYNE IN NOVEMBER SINCE 2022.
SOME OTHER NOTEWORTHY SNOW STATISTICS THIS MONTH INCLUDE THAT THE
DAILY SNOWFALL TOTAL ON NOVEMBER 29TH OF 5.6" WAS THE FIRST 3"+
SNOWFALL IN FORT WAYNE IN NEARLY 3 YEARS! THIS WAS THE HIGHEST
SINGLE DAY SNOWFALL SINCE 6.2" FELL ON JANUARY 25, 2023. IN
ADDITION, THE NOVEMBER 29TH DAILY TOTAL OF 5.6" WAS THE 3RD LARGEST
NOVEMBER DAILY SNOWFALL TOTAL SINCE RECORDS BEGAN IN 1897! ONE NEW
SNOWFALL RECORD WAS SET THIS MONTH. A RECORD DAILY SNOWFALL WAS SET
ON NOVEMBER 10TH WITH 1.9", WHICH BROKE THE PREVIOUS DAILY RECORD OF
1.2" SET IN 1928.
...DECEMBER...
THANKS TO A EARLY SEASON WINTER STORM AFTER THANKSGIVING, DECEMBER
BEGAN MUCH COLDER AND SNOWIER THAN USUAL. 5 INCHES OF SNOW WAS ON
THE GROUND ON DECEMBER 1ST, WHICH WAS THE MOST SNOW ON THE GROUND TO
START THE MONTH SINCE THE SNOW DEPTH WAS 7 INCHES ON DECEMBER 1ST,
1950! IN ADDITION, THE SNOW ON THE GROUND KEPT TEMPERATURES MUCH
COLDER THAN NORMAL (ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT) FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD OF
TIME. FOR THE FIRST HALF OF DECEMBER, HIGHS WERE COMMONLY IN THE 20S
AND 30S AND LOWS WERE IN THE SINGLE DIGITS AND TEENS. AVERAGE
TEMPERATURES FOR 15 OF THE FIRST 16 DAYS OF DECEMBER WERE BELOW
NORMAL, WITH A FEW DAYS EVEN HAVING A 20+ DEGREE DEPARTURE FROM
NORMAL! THERE WERE 13 DAYS THIS MONTH WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE AT OR
BELOW 32 DEGREES. THE COLDEST TEMPERATURE OF THE MONTH WAS WHEN A
LOW OF -3 DEGREES OCCURRED ON DECEMBER 5TH, WHICH WAS ALSO A DAILY
RECORD LOW. THE LAST TIME A LOW BELOW ZERO OCCURRED IN DECEMBER WAS
ON DECEMBER 24, 2023. A PATTERN CHANGE OCCURRED MID-MONTH. THE
SECOND HALF OF DECEMBER FEATURED MOSTLY NEAR TO ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES DUE TO A SERIES OF WARM FRONTAL PASSAGES. THE WARMEST
TEMPERATURE OBSERVED THIS MONTH WAS ON DECEMBER 28TH WHEN THE HIGH
TEMPERATURE REACHED 64 DEGREES! THE 28TH WAS AN ANOMALOUSLY WARM DAY
(ONE DEGREE SHY OF A RECORD HIGH) WHEN TEMPERATURES SURGED INTO THE
LOW TO MID 60S ACROSS THE AREA AHEAD OF A STRONG COLD FRONT.
DEWPOINTS ON THE 28TH ALSO REACHED THE 60 DEGREE MARK IN FORT WAYNE,
WHICH IS THE LATEST OCCURRENCE OF A 60+ DEGREE DEWPOINT THIS LATE IN
THE CALENDAR YEAR! ONCE THE COLD FRONT MOVED THROUGH DURING THE
EVENING OF THE 28TH, TEMPERATURES PLUMMETED FROM THE MID 60S TO THE
MID TEENS IN 18 HOURS! THIS WAS QUITE A RARE PHENOMENON TO OCCUR IN
DECEMBER; THIS SHARP TEMPERATURE SHIFT IS MORE REMINISCENT OF EARLY
FALL OR LATE SPRING NOT DECEMEBER! OVERALL, DECEMBER WAS COLDER THAN
NORMAL WITH AN AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 27.2 DEGREES. THIS IS 3.7
DEGREES BELOW NORMAL AND RANKS AS THE 40TH COLDEST ON RECORD. THIS
WAS THE COLDEST DECEMBER SINCE 2017.
4 NEW TEMPERATURE RECORDS WERE SET AT FORT WAYNE THIS DECEMBER,
INCLUDING 3 NEW RECORD LOWS AND 1 NEW RECORD HIGH. THE RECORDS ARE
AS FOLLOWS:
- DECEMBER 1ST RECORD LOW OF 7 DEGRES (PREVIOUS RECORD: 8 DEGREES
(1979))
- DECEMBER 4TH RECORD LOW OF 2 DEGREES (PREVIOUS RECORD: 4 DEGREES
(1935))
- DECEMBER 5TH RECORD LOW OF -3 DEGREES (PREVIOUS RECORD: -2 DEGREES
(1964))
- DECEMBER 18TH RECORD HIGH OF 55 DEGREES (PREVIOUS RECORD: 54
(1957))
SEVERAL CLIPPER SYSTEMS AND LAKE EFFECT SNOW EVENTS IMPACTED THE
AREA, BRINGING LIGHT TO MODERATE SNOW AMOUNTS THAT REALLY ADDED UP
OVER THE COURSE OF THE MONTH. THIS IS SOMEWHAT ABNORMAL BECAUSE
DECEMBER HAS OFTEN TRENDED WARMER AND RAINY IN THE PAST DECADE.
SEVERAL CLIPPER SYSTEMS AT THE VERY END OF THE MONTH HELPED BOOST
THE MONTHLY SNOW TOTAL TO NEAR NORMAL THIS DECEMBER. THE SNOWIEST
DAY THIS MONTH WAS DECEMBER 1ST WHEN 1.6" FELL. TO GIVE SOME
PERSEPECTIVE ON JUST HOW MUCH LACK OF SNOWFALL THERE HAS BEEN IN THE
PAST DECADE, THIS DAILY AMOUNT IS MORE THAN THE TOTAL DECEMBER
SNOWFALL THAT FELL IN 2015, 2018, 2021, AND 2023. OVERALL, THE MONTH
FINISHED WITH 6.4 INCHES OF SNOW, WHICH IS 1.2 INCHES BELOW NORMAL.
DESPITE THE MONTHLY TOTAL BEING BELOW NORMAL, THIS WAS THE 55TH
SNOWIEST DECEMBER ON RECORD. THIS WAS THE SNOWIEST DECEMBER SINCE
11.4" FELL IN 2017.
ALTHOUGH SNOWFALL WAS NEAR NORMAL, THE OVERALL PRECIPITATION AMOUNT
(LIQUID SNOW EQUIVALENT + RAIN) WAS STILL BELOW NORMAL. IN ADDITION
TO THE SNOW, THERE WERE A FEW OCCURENCES OF RAIN THIS MONTH ON THE
18TH (0.27") AND 28TH. THE AFOREMENTIONED WARM DECEMBER 28TH ALSO
BROUGHT ABOUT A SEVERE RISK TO THE AREA! ALTHOUGH THUNDERSTORMS DID
NOT OCCUR IN FORT WAYNE, 0.55" OF RAIN WAS MEASURED AT THE AIRPORT.
THIS WAS THE WETTEST DAY OF THE MONTH AND THE ONLY DAY TO HAVE OVER
A HALF INCH OF PRECIPITATION. EVEN WITH THE RAINFALL THAT OCCURRED,
PRECIPITATION WAS STILL BELOW NORMAL OVERALL FOR THE MONTH. MUCH OF
THE SNOW THAT FELL IN DECEMBER WAS OF THE LIGHTER, FLUFFIER TYPE,
WHICH LED TO DRIER SNOW RATIOS. OVERALL, THE MONTH FINISHED WITH
1.46 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION, WHICH IS 1.01" BELOW BELOW NORMAL.
THIS IS THE 7TH CONSECUTIVE MONTH THIS YEAR IN FORT WAYNE WITH BELOW
AVERAGE PRECIPITATION. THIS DECEMBER RANKS AS THE 28TH DRIEST AND
WAS THE DRIEST DECEMBER SINCE 2020.
JOHNSON/BROWN/ROLLER
$$